book that wouldn't burn

Yes, I've changed gears. After learning that Samantha Shannon has book 6 of her Bone Season series due out next year, and who knows when book 7 will be out (or if there will be more!) I decided to swap over to Mark Lawrence's Library Trilogy. I bought book 2 at some point at a used book sale, and didn't realize it was the second in a trilogy until I got home and cracked it open to read. So I borrowed book 1 from the library; The Book that Wouldn't Burn. I haven't read any of Mark Lawrence's stuff before and this was pretty good. The story arc is built around a library, that in the point of this story, seems to have been developed thousands of years ago, but a much more advanced society than the current one, but the reasons for that may be that the culture the present story takes place in is either new to the library or is possibly a newer culture that is developing after some post-apocalyptic event, or something. Its a little vague, but I wouldn't tell you what it was here in any case as I try to avoid spoilers.

The library itself reminds me a little of the library in Asimov's Foundation Series, but only in its abstract, font of all knowledge, people in service of the library vibe that story gave me, at least as far as I can recall. its been a while!

I actually finished this a few days ago, and I've been working on book 2. Its a smaller volume, so I don't think it will take me too long before I go grab book 3 from the library. I guess this probably fits into the fantasy genre, but there are also SciFi aspects to it as well, and it also reads a little like historical fiction, but that may be because the culture in which this takes place is slowly transitioning from edged weapons to firearms, and the customs, dress, architecture, societal norms, nobility etc. seem to reflect a historical era.

The writing is pretty tight, and there are some interesting twists and loops that creep in that I wasn't expecting, and some others I could see coming, but I think I could see them because Lawrence wanted me to. 

mask falling

Paige Mahoney is at it again. The Mask Rising is the 4th book in the 7-book Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon. In the dedication, Shannon notes that this is the middle book. I guess I didn't realize how many there were when I started, as I've probably mentioned in the past. The 6th book has been announced, and just recently revealed it's cover art on Shannon's website. That book is due out early next year. The 7th book? Who knows. And will Shannon decide that she needs an 8th to really wrap things up? I know, sorry, but... maybe. it's like, art, and stuff

Paige Mahoney is, of course, the main protagonist in this series, and you just can't keep a good woman down. After making serious and significant inroads on the UK battlefront, Mahoney has decamped to Paris for the majority of this installment. Many of the same characters we met in the first 3 books still appear, but many for only short periods, or mentions, as they are still in England. This book does take the overall story arc onto a more global stage, with implications mentioned for Portugal and Spain as well, altho we don't visit those places. Perhaps a foreshadowing of some future book's setting?

The series framework is a kind of sawtooth shaped story arc or increasing tragedy, conflict, or obstacle,  which ratchets up the tension, and when resolved drops the anxiety back down again for a beat, before the next thing comes along that needs to be overcome. The seem to come pretty regularly (hence the sawtooth analogy) in large part because the Mahoney character runs toward trouble rather than away. Its in her DNA to fight injustice and oppression and putting herself in harms way not only comes naturally, but appears to be her preferred modus operandi. i'll just let it eat me, and cut my way out from the inside *

So would I recommend that you read this series? Its not really SciFi, and its not Swords & Sorcery. Magical Realism? Is that even a thing? Maybe just call it Speculative Fiction. If you like that kind of thing, with some clairvoyance and some rebels-against-the-evil-empire action then you'll probably enjoy this series. You could wait until she's done, so you don't have to hang around waiting for the next installment, but some folks like that, so, you do you!

 

* That's not an actual quote from this book, but a trope we've all seen a number of times. I just read the exact thing in the book I'm reading right now. Which is NOT, by the way, the next book in this series.